1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a collision energy absorbing structure of a vehicle body upper portion of an automobile, and more particularly to a collision energy absorbing structure of a vehicle body upper portion of an automobile having a structural member extending in the longitudinal direction such as a roofside rail or a header, and an interior trim material such as a roofside garnish or a ceiling trim.
2. Description of the Related Art
A proposed collision energy absorbing structure of a vehicle body upper portion of an automobile comprises a structural member extending in the longitudinal direction and formed as a closed structure with respective flanges of an outer panel and an inner panel joined together. The inner panel arranged with a space that is inward relative to the outer panel, as viewed from an interior of a passenger compartment, that is, inward of the outer panel (Japanese Patent Appln. Public Disclosure No. 7-246953). The collision energy absorbing structure related to this proposal comprises a metal energy absorbing panel having a smaller wall thickness than that of the outer panel and that of the inner panel, which is arranged with a space inward of the inner panel and joined to the flange portions of the structural member.
In the above described collision absorbing structure which uses a metal energy absorbing panel, there is no uncrushed portion, as opposed to when an energy absorbing body such as a resin lattice is used, all the portions except the end terminal portion of the energy absorbing panel can be deformed to provide a predetermined amount of energy absorption.